From Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein to Spaceballs and The Producers, legendary filmmaker Mel Brooks has been responsible for some of the most beloved movies ever made. And unsurprisingly, at various points in his career, he has discussed the making of almost all his films. Except for one—the lone dud in his canon—a film so bad The New York Times declared it “an embarrassment,” and which Brooks has never publicly discussed: Solarbabies. Well, at least not until now. Because last week, on behalf of the How Did This Get Made? podcast, I spoke with Brooks at length to try and figure out how (the hell) did this get made?

Going into the interview, I expected to hear tales of unforeseen calamity and production run amok. But what I didn’t expect—and what became the prevailing thread of our conversation—was the enormous personal toll that Solarbabies had on Brooks.

Briefly:Ashton Kutcher made his big bow as Steve Jobs at Sundance, in the film once called jOBS and now wisely re-formatted as Jobs. The film was picked up by Open Road and quickly set for an April 19 limited opening. But audiences are going to have to wait longer to see Kutcher do his best take on the Apple co-founder.

That April date was chosen, presumably, because it is the anniversary of the founding of Apple, though not a particularly sexy one. (The 37th.) The distributor has decided that taking more time to market the film is a good idea. Whether any cuts or other changes will be made remains to be seen. A new date hasn’t been set at this point for the film directed by Joshua Michael Stern andwritten by Matthew Whitely.

Jobs also stars Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons and Matthew Modine. Germain reviewed the film at Sundance, saying it “feels slight because it tries to do too much.” [THR]

Once the initial disbelief at Ashton Kutcher‘s casting in Joshua Michael Stern‘s jOBSwore off, it became apparent that the Two and a Half Men star looked the part of late tech guru Steve Jobs, if nothing else. But there’s a wide gap between mimicking Jobs’ hairstyle and outfits and actually embodying his persona.

Sundance Film Festival attendees will get to see how Kutcher really fares when jOBS makes its world premiere as the Sundance Film Festival’s closing night film later this month, but the rest of us won’t have too much longer to wait either. Open Road Films has just picked up the biopic with plans to release it theatrically this spring. More details after the jump.

The very first pictures from Joshua Michael Stern‘s indie Steve Jobs biopic jOBS confirmed what we already more or less knew: that Ashton Kutcher can look a lot like the late tech guru in the right outfit. Now a more recent batch of set photos offers glimpses of some of the rest of the cast as well, including Josh Gad as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; Ahna O’Reilly as Jobs’ girlfriend Chris-Ann Brennan; Lukas Haas as Apple employee Daniel Kottke; and Dermot Mulroney as former Apple CEO Mike Markkula. Check ’em out after the jump.

Between Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, Steve McQueen’s Shame, and now Adam Sherman‘s Crazy Eyes, I’m starting to suspect that being rich and handsome and having lots of sex is the worst possible fate that could befall a guy. Especially, it seems, if you’re in L.A. — a city where, as Crazy Eyes star Lukas Haas morosely notes in a voiceover, “if you’re one in a million, there are still seven more just like you.”

Haas stars as Zach, a Hollywood millionaire who finds that no amount of girls or booze can give his existence meaning. Enter “Crazy Eyes” (Madeline Zima), a woman who becomes Zach’s drinking buddy and the object of his affections just as his family life spirals out of control. Watch the first trailer after the jump.

TV watchers probably know Nick Offerman as mustachioed parks department director Ron Swanson on NBC’s Parks & Recreation, but we’re starting to see more of him on the big screen as well. Swanson’s upcoming movie roles include the Sundance hit Smashed and the high profile comedies 21 Jump Street and Casa de mi Padre, as well as two more indies due out later this year. We can now add to the list Lamb of God, Diablo Cody‘s directorial debut.

Cody’s script follows a young woman (Julianne Hough) whose faith is shaken after a horrible plane crash. She ditches her family and church and heads to Las Vegas for a taste of the wild life, encountering all manner of folk (including Russell Brand and Offerman’s Smashed co-star Octavia Spencer) along the way. Offerman’s role has not been revealed at this time. [Deadline]

After the jump, Josh Duhamel and Dan Fogler buddy up, while a Black List script lands some stars.

Here’s the trailer for Contraband, the remake of smuggling thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale and Giovanni Ribisi. Wahlberg plays a guy who escaped his former criminal life, but is drawn back into smuggling when his wife’s brother (Caleb Landry Jones, from X-Men: First Class) gets into trouble.

Baltasar Kormákur, an actor and producer on the original film, directs this version. Contraband looks just a bit more visually polished than the original, and sadly like a pretty routine thriller. Check out the trailer below. Read More »

What is Page 2? Page 2 is a compilation of stories and news tidbits, which for whatever reason, didn’t make the front page of /Film. After the jump we’ve included 24 different items, fun images, videos, casting tidbits, articles of interest and more. It’s like a mystery grab bag of movie web related goodness. If you have any interesting items that we might’ve missed that you think should go in /Film’s Page 2 – email us!

This isn’t a gag: Pierce Brosnan and his son Sean Brosnan are teaming up to co-star in a film called Bonded, which will see them in an “Oliver Twist-esque” thriller based on a story that took place in California in the early ’90s.

Mo Ramchandani directs and wrote the script about “a Mexican teenager called Jesus who, after the death of his mother, is sold by his father and smuggled into America, where he’s forced to work as a bonded slave labourer in a Los Angeles sweatshop.” There he befriends a young woman who is soon sold into sexual slavery, leading Jesus to attempt to rescue her. Both Brosnans will play cops. [The Wrap]

After the break, new roles for Toby Kebbell, Lukas Haas and Walton Goggins. Read More »

Upon first hearing about Gardener of Eden, I was interested in seeing what such great young talents the likes of Lukas Haas and Giovanni Ribisi would bring forth to the table in this, the directorial debut from actor Kevin Connolly, known for his role in Entourage. Nevertheless, to my utter disappointment, these talents were sorely misused and wasted in the film.